Halogen heaven

[JDLDIY]

I know there have been countless posts on this before, but none I can find cover this question in total.

I am planning the rewire of my lighting curcuits, the current ones lack earth wires, house is dark, etc, etc. Many of the rooms are to be lit by halogen downlighters, probably mains voltage.

The number of circuits required if I use "standard" 1mm T+E cable with 6A mcb are steadily increasing! So what are my options to cut down number of circuits and what would a Pro electrician do in my situation? I have read somewhere that 10A mcb with 1.5mm T+E is the next stage.

Maybe someone will know of a decent link for me to look at as a reference?

Many thanks for your help

JD

 

[plugwash]

halogens use a lot of electricity and don't tend to cover areas very well are you really sure you want them everywhere

yes 1.5mm on a 10A is ok for lighting but if you are having to think about it in a domestic situation then i would think you are installing far to much lighting power in the first place

 

[JDLDIY]

Yeah I know what you mean. We like the modern look of them though and with even a small room of 10' * 10' you would need at least 5 or 6, so it adds up easily.

We won't have them everywhere by any means, but without going for bigger cables and mcb we will need at least 4 circuits, we only have an average sized 4 bed house.
JD

 

[dingbat]

Before you start drilling dozens of three inch holes everywhere please consider whether you want underfloor heating in the rooms above (all year round!) and make sure you provide adequate ventilation and fire prevention measures.

You might also want to consider the high running costs and the cost of [surprisingly frequent] lamp replacement.

And, on the design side, the spread of light is generally poor and you'll need to place them carefully to give anything approaching an even lighting effect. You may need supplementary lighting to do a decent job. And given that these lights are very much in-vogue you may want to consider how a prospective purchaser might view your house in the future. I'm not saying that this will necessarily invoke the same horror as removed period features, woodchip wallpaper, artexed walls, avocado bathroom suites etc, but all of those things seemed a good idea at the time!

 

[plugwash]

if you are rewiring anyway 4 cuircuits won't be much more work and especially if wired in 1.5mm will give you more flexibility in future

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I've never seen the point of 1mm² - hardly any cheaper than 1.5mm². A little easier to install, but not much.

 

[JDLDIY]

So 1mm T+E, 6A mcb
1.5mm T+E, 10A mcb
Presumably this could apply to the use of 2.5mm T+E and onwards, or is there a limit recommended or imposed for lighting circuits?
The limiting factor is the number of ways available in the Consumer Unit, why would I be adding too much lighting power for a domestic installation with 2 10A circuits rather than say 4 6A circuits?

 

[plugwash]

2x10A is ok i just dislike 10A lighting cuircuits

provided then runs are short you can even use 10A on 1mm though i wouldn't personally reccomend it

the limit on the breaker rating of lighting cuircuits depends on the light type

for SES and SBC lamps its 6A
for ES and BC lamps its 16A (though most here would strongly advise agains more than 10A)

for less standard types of lamps afaict its up to the manufacturer to specify (ofc most don't )

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Presumably this could apply to the use of 2.5mm T+E and onwards, or is there a limit recommended or imposed for lighting circuits?

2.5mm would be a pain to install, and you would really struggle to get it into light fittings etc.

 

[securespark]

But 2.5 is used for commercial lighting circuits.

 

[JDLDIY]

2x10A is ok i just dislike 10A lighting cuircuits

What's not to like though?

 

[plugwash]

well firstly as said you can't put SES or SBC lampholders on them

and i wouldn't wan't to put a 5A socket for a portable lamp on one either

6A is the norm and i would generally advise sticking to it

 

[JDLDIY]

well firstly as said you can't put SES or SBC lampholders on them

must look into the divisions of lampholders!

 

[ZenStalinist]

and i wouldn't wan't to put a 5A socket for a portable lamp on one either

I believe you can install a 5 amp socket on a 10 amp circuit, but not a 2 amp socket. Originallly one could install a 5 amp socket on a 15 amp circuit, I do not know if that is still the case, it sounds a bit dodgy to me.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And you can put a twin 13A socket on a 32A circuit and draw enough current through it to make it catch fire....